Why do I have to be emetophobic?!

[ErinForester]

Just to start off, I'm VERY uncomfortable with typing, uh, what I'm afraid of, so I'm just going going to use # to symbolize the word. Thanks!

Okay so when I was little, I used to # at least once a year for four years, and I was pretty okay with it actually. I didn't enjoy it, but I plowed through. But at some point my phobia developed. It was either when my mom started having vertigo or when I got a terrible case of stage fright at a dance recital. Whatever the cause was, it was clear I had emetophobia. When I felt sick I would panic and cry, and my dad would hold me and try to calm me down. Whenever somebody said they didn't feel well, I made sure to stay away from that person. And the worst part was my mom's vertigo. I was aware that at any moment, my mom could have a dizzy spell and start # violently. Sometimes it would happen in the car, and she would have to pull the car over and call my dad to pick us up. There was even one time when she felt so dizzy she almost crashed into another car, but luckily swerved off the road, into the grass, slammed the breaks, opened the door, and #. Another time she got a terrible dizzy spell in the middle of a school night, and we had to drive her to the hospital. I sat in the very back of the car and buried my face in my pajamas. When we arrived, my dad brought her into the emergency room on a wheelchair, while me and my sister waited in the waiting room untill 6 am. Then we finally were allowed to see her. As soon as I saw my mother's pale, weak face, I couldn't help but cry. I lived in fear for my mom for quite some time, untill finally my mom got a brain surgery, and her vertigo was no more. I was extremely happy about that. It was like having a huge burden lifted off the whole family's shoulders. I still had bad emetophobia, but at least that was over and done with. When I turned 12 though, I started to get where I felt like I was going to # almost every day. It was horrible! I went to the docotr, and he said I had mild hypoglycemia, a condition where I had to watch how sugar I ate, or I would feel sick. Hypoglicemia did not help my emetophobia AT ALL. I figured out how to keep my blood sugar under control, but there was still times where it would slip and I wouldn't feel well. And of course, as soon as I didn't feel well, I panicked and got very upset. So here I am, 13 years old and still extremely afriad of #. Whenever someone # around me, I hide in a corner, plug my ears, close my eyes, and sing hymns quietly to myself, trembling and sweating the whole time. It's hard to be emetophobic with my mother's vertigo and my hypoglicemia, and both of these things have done nothing o help my phobia. Luckily my parents are understanding of this fear, but other people aren't at all. In fact some people have made fun of me, one of them being the school nurse. I have a great life that I'm very thankful for, but emetophobia has become a big issue for me. I only wish I could cure my fear without the descentisizing theory. (Yuck!)

[Btrfly8888]

Hello, I am just slightly older than you but I have been doing research on Emetaphobia since I was around 9 or 10. Emetaphobia is a disorder in your brain that most doctors either can't recognize or don't believe in. It is when receptors in your brain connect "#ing" with danger. You knew your mom was #ing because she was sick and being sick is danger. That is one thing that could have started your Emet disorder. You aren't different than many Emets. I even, when someone says they dont feel well, I stay as far away as possible. And when someone is #ing, I sit in a corner crying and pressing my fingers as deep into my ears as I can to block the sound. My parents aren't very supportive of me, every time I don't feel well and start panicking, my mom tells me to go to bed and stop over-reacting. It is a hard thing to deal with but all you need to know is some tricks to make nausea go away and to really think about what is happening when someone is #ing. Remember that it is not you that is doing it, it is the other person. Hearing/smelling/seeing it isn't going to cause you to do it. I know that sounds weird but it will help a little to remember that. I hope my advice has helped Here are some tricks to get rid of nausea:

1.Peppermint Tea
2.Peppermint Gum
3.Peppermints
4.Pepto Bismol
5.Lay on your side while doing something to occupy yourself
6.Don't watch any episodes of TV shows that have someone # (I know, there are so many episodes with some slight scenes)

Sincerely,
btrfly8888